‘Missing girls’ in China and India: trends and policy challenges

Child sex ratios plateaued in China between the censuses of 2000 and 2010, a major change from decades of sharp rises. In India they rose by 1.4 per cent during the intercensal period 2001–2011, which is a much slower rate of increase than in previous decades, and reported son preference is falling. In both countries, the largest declines are in regions that had the highest child sex ratios earlier, while some surrounding regions show rises. State policies to reduce sex-selection through offering financial incentives or banning the use of sex-selective technology show limited evidence of effectiveness. In China, the overall level of sex-selection remained stable, while the census data show a sharp shift towards sex-selection at the first birth—likely related to the mode of implementation of the program to reduce sex-selection. Studies indicate that media outreach can be very effective at changing norms and behaviors, including reducing son preference. Reducing the demand for sex-selection may offer the most effective long-term solution.     

Impact of rural-to-urban migration on family and gender values in China

Drawing on data from the 2006 China General Social Survey, propensity score matching was used to investigate the impact of rural-to-urban migration on family and gender values in China at distinct stages of the migratory process. Little evidence of ideational difference is found between rural natives who intend to migrate to urban areas and those who intend to stay in rural China. However, rural-to-urban migration has significant, diverse and gendered impacts on various domains of family and gender values at distinct migratory stages. The results also cast light on the important roles played by hukou status and various forms of socioeconomic and cultural status, such as education and occupation, in mediating the impact of rural-to-urban migration on family and gender values. The ideational impact of migration is shown to be shaped by China’s distinctive institutional features.     

上海博物馆藏伯弘父盨札记

上海博物馆早年入藏了一件伯弘父盨,器形和文字从未发表过。通过对器物类型学和纹饰的研究,可以确定时代在西周中期。器盖同铭共有二十七个字,记载了在二月初吉丁卯日这一天,伯弘父作器在宗庙里宴飨宾客。青铜盨自名为"(米丩)"还是首次发现,此字应该是"簋"的异体字。这件器物对于研究青铜盨形制的发展、自名的演变以及西周时期的礼制都有十分重要的意义。     

地理学的基本规律

地理学有三个基本规律:一,地域分异规律,包括纬度地带性、经度地带性、垂直地带性和非地带性;二,地域综合规律,包括距离衰减规律和区域系统规律;三,地域发展规律,包括地理环境周期性发展和人地关系发展阶段性.这些规律既涉及自然过程,又涉及社会过程,许多重大的历史事件,如文明古国的出现,东亚经济起飞,我国开放政策,在地域上都受地理学基本规律的影响.     

Diverse lifestyles and populations in the Xiaohe culture of the Lop Nur region,Xinjiang, China

The archaeological culture found in Xiaohe Cemetery (1980–1450 BC) is one of the early Bronze Age cultures in Xinjiang, northwestern China. The material assemblages from Xiaohe culture display features with both eastern and western influences. These east-west cultural and dietary interactions may be observed via the diet of the Xiaohe population. This paper examined the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human and animal bones and human hairs from the Xiaohe Cemetery and compared with those of human bones from the Gumugou Cemetery, another Xiaohe culture site. The results indicate that the diets of the peoples from the Xiaohe culture varied significantly over different periods. The unified diets of the earlier periods reflect that an admixed population first settled in the Lop Nur region and primarily engaged in animal husbandry. In the later periods, the transformations in the human diets in this region reflect that new immigrants constantly relocated here and promoted population complexity over time. Moreover, this population occasionally produced small quantities of domesticated wheat and millet. The complex population and diversified economy of the Xiaohe culture were due to the expansion of the coeval cultures in the Eurasian steppe and eastern immigrants. Additionally, the millet cereal was probably mainly used for ritual practices rather than for staple food in the later periods.     

中国在世界反法西斯联盟建立中的地位和作用

世界反法西斯联盟的成立是反法西斯战争能够取胜的基石。中国在世界反法西斯战争中的重要贡献之一,就是在世界上最早倡导、积极推动世界反法西斯联盟的建立。七七抗战爆发后,中国政府和人民在坚持抗战的基础上,通过积极争取国际社会的支持,多方寻求盟国,抵制英美远东绥靖政策以及公开倡导民主国家结盟合作等外交活动,为世界反法西斯联盟的建立做出了重要贡献。     

河北唐县钓鱼台积石墓出土文物整理简报

唐县钓鱼台积石墓发现于1966年,其出土文物以铜器为主,并有少量金器、石器,其中多数铜器风格与中原地区相一致,也有部分器物具有鲜明的北方少数民族特征,其时代应为春秋中期或略晚。     

梦追天路列车行

夏都西宁历经几多沧桑阵痛,分娩瑰丽夏都雏形,楼群擎起立体诗挤瘦困顿,郁金香铺满世纪梦避暑览胜,河湟目送天路列车系一袭清爽,载诱惑从起点向世界屋脊追寻……塔尔寺母爱令黄教始祖落地生根,长出菩提树栖息人之初悟性,八大如意塔托起千秋信仰,金瓦寺酥油花映亮芸芸众生。灵魂在磬音梵声中净化,世俗在桑烟缭绕中消遁。七彩土乡彩虹的故乡牡丹的家,千里寻芳翩跹蝶恋花;五峰的飞瀑互助的酒,浸透民族魂的青稞陈酿醉天下!阿姑“花儿”携风拂去旅人心上尘,亮相央视的“轮子秋”缤纷风俗画。金银滩原子城难忘《在那遥远的地方》天籁音,难忘举国狂…     

对『纳顿节』研究的回顾与展望

笔者作为生长在土乡中川的土族人,从小耳濡目染“纳顿节”的狂欢场面,从祖辈父辈的口中听说过无数有关“纳顿节”的故事,现据手头仅有的少量文献,就“纳顿节”的变迁史作一简短的回顾,借以回眸“纳顿节”发展史,并提出一些以后的“纳顿节”展望,意     

An examination of the impact of neighbourhood walking environments on the likelihood of residents of dense urban areas becoming overweight or obese

With the development of urbanization in China, obesity is becoming a serious problem, and the relationship between walking environments and obesity has attracted considerable interest. Using data from questionnaires (n = 418) gathered in 2017 from eight neighbourhoods in Guangzhou, China, a typical high-density city, this study developed an Ordered Logit Model (OLM) to explore the effects of walking environments on the likelihood of residents becoming overweight or obese. The results demonstrate that body mass index (BMI) of individuals living in central urban areas is higher than those of suburban residents. After controlling for the effects of socio-economic factors, it was found that the impact of walking environments at the scale of 1-km buffer on individual BMI is the most significant. Variables of walkability, road network density, bus stop density, metro stop density, green coverage rate, and distance to the park have negative effects on BMI. Based on these findings, it is suggested that planning interventions should focus more on the areas through which residents walk in their daily travel routines. The selection of neighbourhoods surveyed and the sample size limit this study, but the conclusions do provide a scientific basis for the construction of neighbourhoods that encourage walking and decrease the probability of becoming overweight or obese.